Sorry My Friend
by TowMondler
Summary: Joey does something that Chandler deems unforgivable, what happens when Chandler moves Monica away?
1. Sorry My Friend

Thanks for the reviews on my last fic, here's the new one, please review this one as well! The first part of this may seem a little intense and harsh on Chandler's part, and Joey seems more selfish than usual, but....well, I'll explain later why I did that. The song is by Save Ferris. 

Disclaimer: Ah, yes, they are not mine after all

Monica placed the key in the lock and kissed her fiance. He kissed her neck as she fumbled trying to get the door open.

"Chandler," she breathed. "Let me at least get the door open." He let up and she managed to swing the door open. 

"That took way too long," he told her and she giggled and they continued what they had been doing. Once her bedroom door was shut she smiled at him. 

"Thanks for tonight," she said sincerely.

"Anything for you," he replied. He kissed her again. This is how life should always be, he thought before falling onto the bed with her in his arms. 

"What about the daffodils for the centerpieces?" Monica asked showing Chandler. 

"They're very nice," Chandler replied bored. 

"You don't have to be here," Monica told him for the fifth time. 

"I want to be a part of the wedding," he assured her. 

"Then act like it," she admonished holding up the picture that looked like the first three that Chandler had seen. 

"I like that one the best," he lied. She made a face at him and shut the book.

"Are we done?" He asked a little too excitedly. 

"Yes," she sighed again. "We are."

"Yes, I mean...oh too bad, I was enjoying this immensely."

"Chandler? Don't lie, you suck at it."

"Right, no more lying," he promised and kissed her cheek. She smiled and went into their bedroom to lie down. The door opened and Joey came in. 

"Want to go get something to eat?" He asked. 

"No thanks," Chandler said. "Monica wasn't feeling well, so I thought I better stay home with her." 

"Come on man," Joey begged. "It'll be one of our last hurrahs! You have to come!" Chandler looked at his begging best friend and then at the door with Monica. She hadn't been feeling very well lately. She had gotten extremely bad stomach pains the night before. He didn't want to leave her. 

"Please?" Joey pleaded. "She'll be fine. She'll probably sleep all night anyway." Chandler sighed.

"Joe, I don't know," he told him once more hoping that he would let the subject drop. 

"Monica!" Joey called out.

"Let her rest," Chandler admonished. But it was too late as the door swung open and Monica, with her hair all over her face, emerged and rubbed her eyes. 

"Yes?" She asked. 

"Can Chandler come out with me?"

"I guess so," she replied. 

"See?"

"Honey are you sure?" 

"Yeah, Chandler go have fun," Monica said and Chandler wavered slightly before agreeing to go out for a couple of hours, and only a couple of hours with Joey. He kissed Monica goodbye.

"If you aren't feeling well, call my cell," he reminded her before he left. Joey clapped his hands in happiness and smiled at Chandler.

"It'll be like old times. Just Joey and the Chan-man," he said. 

"I'm going to need for you not to call me that," Chandler said as he shut the door. Something told him not to go, but Joey was too excited for Chandler to think of going back now. 

"Come on Joey," Chandler said a few hours later. He'd already been out longer than he had meant to stay, and now his best friend was drunk and all Chandler wanted to do was get home to Monica and get Joey home.

"I'm having fun!" Joey replied and downed another shot. 

"We've got to get you home," Chandler said again. 

"Not yet, one more hour," Joey slurred. "Just one more. Monica is fine. She would have called your phone if she wasn't." 

"You're right," Chandler sighed and sat back down on the barstool. "One more hour and then you and I go home." 

"Fine by me," Joey said. He looked at Chandler's cell phone which was laying next to him and noticed that it was turned off. Joey had turned it off by accident when he was trying to put a girl's number in the phone book to remember it. He wondered if he should mention it to Chandler, which would without a doubt result in their going home. He decided Chandler wouldn't stay out for longer than an hour at tops anyway and Monica was fine. He was sure of it. It might have been the vodka talking, but Joey was positive he was doing the right thing. Chandler needed to get out and blow off some steam. All these wedding plans had to be getting to him, Joey knew that they were certainly getting to him. No, it wasn't worth mentioning it to Chandler, he would just make Joey go home. And that was not suitable for Joey. 

"My phone's turned off?" Chandler asked as they were heading out to the cab. "How long has it been turned off?"

"Don't know," Joey lied. Chandler hurriedly checked to see if anyone had called. 

"Monica called, five times! Joey! What if she's in trouble and needed to get a hold of me?"

"Relax," Joey replied grabbing the phone off of Chandler. "She hasn't called in like a half hour. She probably was just wondering where you were." Chandler sighed and hoped the they got home and Joey was right. Monica just was wondering where he was. He had only said he would be out for a couple hours. Now it was four. They parked in front of the building and Chandler practically sprinted up the stairs. 

"Monica?" He called out softly when he entered their apartment. He saw the bathroom light was on and he made his way over to it. The door was opened slightly and he gave it a nudge to open it. He gasped when he saw the dark hair sprawled over the floor and dropped to his knees and stroked Monica's cheek.

"Monica? Wake up!" He grabbed his cell phone and called an ambulance. She stirred a little. 

"Chandler?"

"Monica? What happened?" 

"My stomach, oh God, Chandler, it hurts," she began to cry. "I guess I passed out from the pain."

"I called an ambulance," he told her and kissed her.

"I tried your phone, but I...I couldn't get a hold of you," she said crying again. 

"I know, damn Joey. I knew I shouldn't have gone out. I should have stayed here with you. Or at least came home when I told you I would. Oh Monica, I'm so sorry." She smiled weakly at him. 

"It's not your fault," she reassured him. "I think my appendix. I think that it's my appendix." He kissed her. 

"You'll be okay, that happens all the time. They'll just remove it and you'll be as good as new," he kept kissing her forehead. The door opened and he hoped it was the paramedics. Instead it was Joey.

"So I was right, right? Monica's fine and you could have stayed out all night!" 

"No Joey! Her appendix might have burst and I was out drinking with you and I didn't know because my phone was turned off!" Chandler was getting angry with his friend. If anything happened to her, Chandler would never forgive Joey. It was easiest to blame him. The paramedics came in and Joey stood back in shock and guilt. He had kept Chandler out longer than he had wanted. He had turned off his phone so that Monica couldn't call him. Chandler was right. It was his fault. 

__

I wrote this song for you to say I'm sorry

I know that I was wrong and you don't like me

Why, why, why

Must you feel this way?

I wish I had the words

I needed to say

"Is she okay?" Rachel and Ross came running into the emergency room where Chandler was pacing. 

"They think her appendix might have burst, she's in surgery now," Chandler said sighing and finally sitting down on one of the chairs. 

"What does that mean?" Rachel asked. Chandler shrugged. He didn't really feel like repeating what the doctor had said, because in truth, it had scared the crap out of him. 

"It's not good," Ross replied for him. "It means she would be on heavy antibiotics and she would be sick for awhile or..."

"Or what?" Rachel demanded.

"She could die," Chandler finished. Rachel covered her mouth and sank down to the seat below her. 

"What happened?" Ross asked. Chandler repeated the story of going out with Joey. 

"It's not Joey's fault," Ross said and Chandler glared angrily at him. 

"She tried to call me, Ross. Five times. Five times your sister, who was in unbelievable pain tried to reach me because she was scared and she wanted me and five times she couldn't because Joey had turned off my phone because he wanted to stay out and drink a little longer." Ross had never seen that unforgiving, cold look in Chandler's eyes. Chandler was mad. Because Monica was involved. She was the one that was hurt. Everything in Chandler just wanted to protect her and he hadn't. The reality of it was that more than he blamed Joey, he blamed himself. But Joey was easier to take it out on. Joey came into the waiting room and stood back hoping that he could find out if his friend was okay before Chandler yelled at him again to leave. 

"Mr. Bing?" The doctor came out and Chandler jumped out of the plastic seat and hurried over. 

"Is she okay?" They all demanded before he could even open his mouth .

"Unfortunately, Ms. Geller's appendix had ruptured. Luckily we got to her shortly after and removed it."

"What does that mean?" Joey spoke up. Chandler glared at him but wanted to know the answer so didn't speak his mind.

"That means she'll be sick for awhile and she'll be on heavy antibiotics," the doctor explained. 

"Can I go see her?" Chandler asked. All he wanted to do was see her. Make sure she was okay. 

"Sure, one at a time." The doctor led Chandler down the hall to Monica's room and Joey sighed.

"He's pretty mad?" He asked. 

"He'll get over it," Ross told Joey. Joey shook his head. 

"I've never seen him this mad Ross," Joey said. "This is not something he's going to easily forgive me for."

"Hey, you didn't do anything wrong, okay?" Rachel said. "You didn't make her have an appendicitis." 

"But I kept him out when he kept telling me that she wasn't feeling well, that he wanted to go home. What did I do? I turned off his cell phone so that he couldn't hear it ring. She would have been fine. She would have had her appendix removed and wouldn't be sick like she is now." Ross and Rachel could both see there was no point discussing this with him now. Monica would be fine and Chandler would forgive Joey. He had to. 

__

'Cause you and me

We disagree

On everything and everyone

I only want to be your friend again

I hear you're blaming me for all your problems

Well if you'd quit complaining you might solve 'em

Joey held the flowers tightly in his hand waiting to see Monica. He took a deep breath and walked in. She was lying in the bed and she looked so pale and fragile in comparison to the white bed. Chandler was fast asleep by her side holding her hand. Joey placed the flowers on the table next to her and kissed her forehead and turned to leave. 

"Joey?" She asked weakly.

"Hey Monica! How are you feeling?" 

"Horrible," she commented and he smiled slightly. "No, I take that back, I feel great! I could run a marathon." He smiled widely at this.

"Still being sarcastic I see. Living with Chandler has rubbed off on you." 

"I know, shame isn't it?" She joked. Joey relaxed. Monica didn't blame him. If Monica didn't blame him than she could talk Chandler out of being mad. She as stubborn enough to make Chandler do whatever she wanted him to do. Chandler stirred and woke up and kissed Monica's hand. He saw Joey on the other side of the bed.

"Please leave," he said. 

"But Chandler..." Joey started. 

"I want you to leave," he repeated. 

"He can stay," Monica said trying to referee between the two of them. They hardly ever fought, but when they did, it tended to get ugly. 

"Then I'll leave," Chandler said. "I'll be back sweetheart." He gave Monica a kiss on the forehead and left the room.

"He's really mad," Joey said.

"He'll get over it," Monica told him. 

"I don't think so," Joey replied. Monica didn't mention the conversation her and Chandler had had that morning. Chandler wasn't just mad, he was fuming. The kind of stuff that feuds begin with. Chandler had even talked to her about him perhaps getting a promotion that would lead to them having to move. Something he would have never even entertained before this. 

"He will," Monica said again and forced a smile. "Tell me what's new with you?" Joey tried to make small talk with her, but ended up seeing Chandler outside the room waiting for him to leave, and he ended the conversation short and kissed her goodbye. 

"Feel better," he whispered. 

"Thanks Joe," she replied quietly. As soon as he was gone, Chandler came bursting back in. 

"Forgive him Chandler," she said softly. 

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because...because...."

"That's a great answer," she told him and turned her head to the other side and closed her eyes to fall asleep. And they called her the stubborn one. 

__

I'll try hard to make amends

But both of us will have to try and give in

'Cause you and me

We disagree

On everything and everyone

I only want to be your friend again

"We have some news," Monica said and bit her lip. She hadn't wanted this, but for once she was too weak to argue and Chandler had been too insistent on the subject. He was letting go of his anger towards Joey anytime soon. 

"What?" Rachel, who always loved gossip asked leaning forward. Phoebe closed her eyes.

"You're getting married!" She cried.

"Uh, Pheebs? We're already doing that," Chandler said.

"Right, I knew that," Phoebe replied rolling her eyes. 

"Anyway," Monica tried again. "Chandler and I are moving!"

"Please tell me just to the suburbs," Ross said. 

"Um...the suburbs of San Diego?" Chandler said. 

"You're moving to San Diego?" They all cried out. Monica nodded. She would follow Chandler anywhere and he had insisted. He had told her many times that he needed this promotion and he wanted her with him. He was more important than her job so she had agreed and went with him. But she would miss her friends, she would miss her brother. 

"I can't believe this," Rachel said softly. "I'm going to miss you so much." She and Monica hugged for what seemed like an eternity. 

"I know, but we can visit and call and we'll keep in touch," Monica whispered. But in her heart, she knew this was it. This was going to end their tight-nit group of friends. It would never be the six of them again. Chandler and her would be on one side of the country and the other four would be in New York. They might even get....replaced. She wiped away the tears and let herself fall into her brother's arms and then Joey's.

"Is this because of me?" He asked her.

"No," she assured him. "He's almost forgiven you." 

"Mon, either you're lying, or he's not telling you," Joey said smiling a half smile at her. "He's never been this mad. He's moving you away."

"We're moving away because of his job," Monica said.

"Mon, you're smart, figure it out. You got sick while here, he almost lost you because I wanted to go out. He's not going because of his job, he's going to get you away from here. Away from me. Away from the things that he blames for you getting sick. I know I'm not the smartest, but I can see that." He gave her a kiss on the cheek and knowing Chandler wouldn't want to say any goodbyes to him, slipped out of the apartment. 

__

I'm sorry for the things that turned out this way

I wish I knew the words I needed to say

But you and me we never seem to see eye to eye

But I'm sure that we can get along

If we try

If you want to you can just walk away

But I hope you know apologies

Are okay

"It seems so quiet around here," Rachel commented as the four of them sat on the couch in Rachel and Phoebe's new apartment, formally Chandler and Monica's apartment. 

"I miss them," Ross said. They had moved out a month before and the gap that they had left was huge. 

"Monica called yesterday," Phoebe said. "She said that Chandler's job is great and she got a head chef position at a restaurant and they have big news that they're going to call and share." The wedding had been done quickly the week before they left in front of all their friends and family. It had been small and gorgeous. Even if it was moved and done quickly, Monica made sure it was lovely. She had found a small church in upstate New York and had the entire thing decked out in flowers and roses. As if on cue, the phone rang and Rachel answered it. 

"Hello?" She said into the receiver.

"Rach?" 

"Hey Mon! Let me put you on speaker phone," Rachel said. 

"Hey guys," Monica's voice filtered through.

"Hey Mon! What's the big news?" Ross asked. Monica cleared her throat.

"I'm pregnant!" She said excitedly.

"That's so great!" They all exclaimed. Chandler rubbed his wife's shoulders. But she suddenly felt lonely. No Rachel to hug her and take her shopping. No Phoebe to try to predict the baby's sex. No Ross all excited about being an uncle. No Joey trying to get them to name the baby Joseph or Josephine. If only Chandler would accept Joey's apologies. It hadn't even really been his fault. Everyone but Chandler could see this. But in his mind he had built it up to the point where Joey had been to blame for everything. Monica smiled at her husband. Things had changed. She just wanted everything to be back how it was before. 

__

'Cause you and me

We disagree

On everything and everyone

I only want to be your friend again

'Cause you and me

We disagree

On everything and everyone

I only want to be your friend again  


*~ Like I said, in order for this to work, I needed Joey to have done something and Chandler to have gotten really mad at him, but I was drawing blanks so it may seem totally a stupid reason to hold a grudge and totally out of character, but this was just setting the rest of it up so bare with me. And please review!*~


	2. Forgivenss is to be Earned

~* Hi! Thanks for reviewing. Someone made a very good point about Monica not calling anyone else, and I did see that and I was going to fix that, except that I wanted Monica to be found in a more serious condition so what Joey did was completely unforgivable. And it was the middle of the night, I know that my aunt got hurt in the middle of the night and wouldn't call anyone except my uncle's phone because she didn't want to wake anyone up. She didn't think she was hurt bad enough to merit a two-thirty in the morning call. Go figure.*~

Disclaimer: Oh did I say that they belonged to me? Yeah, I lied. 

Monica arrived at her house and set her grocery bag that was in one hand on the counter and the baby carrier in the other hand next to it. She smiled at her five-month-old Sarah and heard the garage door open and the door in the kitchen opened and Chandler came in. 

"Hey," he gave her a kiss on the cheek and kissed his daughter next. "How are my girls today?" 

"We're fine," she told him smiling. "How was your day?"

"It was okay," he poured himself a glass of water and sat down with the paper at their breakfast table. She picked Sarah out of the carrier and cradled her in her arms as she read over Chandler's shoulder. 

"Ross says that Joey is moving out to Los Angeles," Monica decided to bring up the conversation that she had had with her brother that day. Chandler tensed up, a usual response when Joey was mentioned. 

"Good for him," Chandler said. "Here, can I have Sarah?" Monica nodded and handed her daughter off to him. He kissed the baby's forehead and got up from the table. He walked out of the room and Monica sighed and sat down on the empty chair. She had tried many times to get him to forgive Joey. But every attempt was shot down and she was told by her husband that what Joey had done was inexcusable and it didn't matter what anyone said, his and Joey's friendship was done. No more. Kaput. This made Monica sad; she had loved watching the two interact. Not even Kathy had been able to break them up. She also couldn't help feel in some small way this was her own fault. She sighed and rubbed her temples. They had been in San Diego for more than a year now. And as much as she loved it, and loved her new friends here, she missed home. She missed New York. Joey was going to be on the same side of the county as them, she could call...No, Chandler would be enraged with her. He had seemed to forget the seven years of friendship and laughter. He had seemed to forget that this was the best friend that had invented fire ball with him; the same goofy guy that had a glass dog and had bought a chick and a duck and brought them to live in their apartment. Well, the duck had been Chandler's idea. Chandler carried Sarah back into the kitchen and placed her in her mother's arms. He kissed his wife's cheek. 

"Mon? How about you and I put Sarah to bed early and have the night to ourselves?" Monica grinned. 

"That's sounds extremely tempting," she replied. Chandler had no interests in forgiving his friend. He had everything he needed right here. No matter how much he missed his former best friend, Joey was irresponsible. He could cause Monica to get hurt again, or Sarah. Sarah, his baby girl, the one that already looked like her mother. No, Joey would not be forgiven. Forgiveness was to be earned. Joey had not earned it. He didn't remind himself he had never given Joey a chance, Joey didn't deserve a chance. But still, the fact that Joey was in Los Angeles, that made Chandler happy. Although he didn't know why, after all he hated Joey. 

"So you have everything unpacked?" Rachel asked on the phone to Joey.

"Yep." He glanced around his tiny apartment. "Everything is in it's proper place."

"Monica would be happy to hear that," she answered and they both laughed and then sobered. 

"Have you heard from her lately?" Joey asked. 

"Not since she had Sarah. Wow that was five months ago." Rachel and Monica had promised to keep their friendship alive. No amount of space could break them apart they had said. But after Sarah was born Monica was busy, even before she was born, Rachel would only hear from her friend every once in awhile. Deep down she knew that it would happen, it was only natural. 

"Hey Rach?" Joey's voice interrupted her thoughts. 

"Yeah?" 

"What's this thing that you packed for me? It's silver and it twists."

"That's a hand can opener," Rachel said.

"No way! They make things travel size? I can eat my Spaghettios on the go now!" Rachel laughed at her friend who was so child-like sometimes. It had broken his heart to lose Monica, but mostly Chandler. He had been serious for the longest time. Something they rarely saw from Joey, now he was getting back to his old self. 

"How's the weather?" Rachel asked trying to keep her mind off it. 

"It's hot."

"It's California."

"That's true," Joey agreed. "I guess I should go try to find a job."

"I'll talk to you later," Rachel told him and hung up the phone. She went into her bedroom and picked up a picture of the gang at Central Perk. They were so happy, so tight. All it had taken was one stupid mistake. One mistake that had been unforgivable. Rachel didn't blame Chandler. He was protecting Monica. She understood. Monica understood and that's why she had gone to San Diego. Joey had understood, that's why he didn't push Chandler to forgive him. But she just wished that he could forgive and forget. Maybe not forget. You can't forget. But you can forgive. She wondered if it was just his pride holding him back. If that was the case then he would never forgive Joey. 

Monica was laying in Chandler's arms when she heard the phone ring. She reached over in the dark and fumbled for the phone. She picked it up. 

"Hello?" She struggled to keep the sleep out of her voice. "Oh my God." She just listened. Chandler had woken up and listened to her side of the conversation. 

"What's the matter?" He mouthed. 

"Car accident," she mouthed back. He sat up next to her quickly. It wasn't Monica involved or Sarah, it wasn't the two most important people in the world to him, but someone important enough to merit a middle-of-the-night call. She listened for a little while longer and then hung up the phone. 

"Who is it?" He asked rubbing his hand along her back.

"Joey," she whispered. Chandler was in shock.

"Is he okay?" Chandler suddenly couldn't breath. He couldn't forgive Joey yet, he still wasn't ready, but he couldn't lose him. 

"They think so," Monica replied softly. "But we're the closest to him. I think we should go see him." Chandler closed his eyes. "Chandler, I think this is really important to go see him. He needs his friends." Chandler looked at his wife and knew that he wasn't going to win this argument. She twisted her ring around her finger, like she did when she was nervous.

"Okay," he said. "We'll go see him." She smiled slightly and kissed his cheek gently. 

"This is the right thing to do," she assured him and laid her head back on his chest and fell asleep. Chandler tightened his grip on her and kissed the top of her head. He would go to Los Angeles. He would go see Joey. But he would not forgive him. He simply would take Monica there so that she could check up on him and stay there until someone else came and then he would take her back home. 

"Joey?" There was a knock on his hospital door. That voice sounded vaguely familiar. He knew that voice. He opened his eyes and groaned as he moved his broken arm.

"Monica?" He asked in shock. She nodded and helped him sit up. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and smiled at him. 

"How are you?" She asked with concern.

"I'm going to be okay," he said. "I broke my arm and a few ribs, and got a concussion, but nothing too serious." Monica nodded and smiled again at him.

"I'm glad," she stated. 

"What are you doing here?" He asked. 

"We heard you were in car accident so we came," she told him.

"We? Is Chandler here?" 

"Yes, he took our daughter Sarah to the hotel with him to get settled while I came here," she said. Joey was shocked. He hadn't expected to see Chandler...well, ever again. And along with Chandler was Monica. He hadn't expected to see either of them. 

"Mon? I've missed you." 

"I know, Joey, I've missed you too. Now, you should probably get some sleep. The doctor said you can go home tonight." Joey nodded and drifted off again. The shock of seeing her had tired him out. 

Joey got into the car that Chandler had waiting. He sat next to a car seat which held their daughter. Sarah smiled a toothless smile at him and reached out her little hand and he took it. Monica got into the passenger seat and smiled back him. 

"She likes you," she said. Chandler however, did not smile. In fact, he had said two words to Joey since he arrived at the hospital to take Joey home. Joey knew that he was just was counting the minutes until he could go home in his head. He saw Monica reach over and squeeze his leg. Chandler turned to her ad gave her a slight smile. 

"Where's your apartment?" Monica asked and listened as Joey gave her the directions. When they got there Joey climbed out and Monica came around and got Sarah out of her car seat. Chandler stayed in the driver's seat. Monica leaned into the open window and glared at him.

"Get out of the car," she said through clenched teeth. Chandler sighed and climbed out next to his wife and daughter. Joey led them up the stairs to his apartment and Chandler opened the door for him. 

"It's not much," he said when they were inside.

"It's nice," Monica said and she smiled. Chandler slipped an arm around her waist to keep her close to him. It was more than he didn't forgive Joey, it was also he didn't trust Joey. It was ridiculous because Joey had not hurt her, he had simply prevented Chandler to getting to her when she was hurt, but in his mind Chandler couldn't trust Joey around her. Chandler nodded a slight agreement and looked around. He saw the white dog in the corner and suddenly wanted to be out of there. Wanted to be home in their house in San Diego. Wanted to not be by Joey. 

"We were going out to dinner," Chandler said. "So we better go."

"Why don't you come?" Monica added. 

"I don't know," Joey said. "I wouldn't want to intrude."

"You wouldn't," Monica assured him. "Come on." Joey could never turn down food and grabbed his coat and followed them out to the car. Once they were at the restaurant, he found making small talk was easier than he thought, but it was because Monica was holding it all together. She was bringing up the subjects and talking to him. Chandler had busied himself with taking care of Sarah. His cell phone rang and he sighed as he answered it. 

"Hello?" He listened. "I have to take this," he said to his wife. She nodded and he left the table. 

"So he's gotten pretty high up in the company?" Joey asked. 

"Yeah," she told him smiling. "He has. He basically runs the California branch." Sarah lifted her food-covered hands into the air and waved them around. Chandler came back to the table and they ate in silence again. At the end of the meal, he placed his credit card on the table and they walked to the car. Chandler dropped Joey off and Monica helped him get ready for bed before joining her husband and daughter. 

"It was nice to see him," Monica said hoping to get some positive response from Chandler. Instead she got silence. So she didn't try again. 

"Hey!" Rachel and Ross arrived at Joey's apartment followed by Phoebe and hugged Monica tightly. 

"Is this Sarah?" Ross asked. He picked up the baby and cradled her in his arms. "Oh, Mon, she's gorgeous." Monica grinned. 

"Isn't she?" She agreed. She was quick to agree to any sort of complement handed to her about her daughter. "Sarah Catherine Bing." 

"Where's Chandler?" Phoebe asked. 

"He's at a business lunch," Monica answered. In fact, Chandler had found business to do all week. "We're leaving tonight." They weren't even staying to visit the friends Chandler wasn't angry at. Chandler arrived a few minutes later and hugged all his friends.

"We've missed you," he told them. Joey watched sadly. This was how he was supposed to act when he saw him. Chandler had spoken the minimum amount of words possible to Joey this week. Monica was getting fed up. She had tried to talk to him about it and he had ignored her. He was being so stubborn and pig-headed. She didn't even think he was mad anymore, just his damn pride getting in the way. They all decided to go out to lunch and Chandler made sure he was on the opposite side of the table as Joey. He didn't have to speak to him at all. They had a tearful goodbye that night as Chandler let out a sigh of relief that they were finally going home. Monica hugged Joey and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Take care of yourself," she told him and gave him another kiss and got into the car with Chandler. She knew it would be awhile before she saw any of her friends again. Joey, she feared, she would never see again. 

~*Hullo! Please review and tell me if I should keep this going or not. It would make me very happy!*~


	3. Forgive and Forget

~*Thanks for reviewing, keep it up! Here is the next part and I hope that you enjoy it!~* 

Disclaimer: Right, they don't belong to me. 

365 days. 365 days that can last forever or fly by. The first year Joey was without Chandler and Monica seemed to inch by. The second of course, brought a visit from them, and by the third he could have sworn he had never had friends by those names. Monica tried to keep in touch. She called him after their visit to Los Angeles and then when the phone calls stopped, she would email, and eventually she went back to the tried and true method of writing letters, and soon those died off as well. He woke up one day and realized that they knew nothing about him anymore. He had a girlfriend named Jane, and he was living with her now. Chandler would have been the one he would have gone to for advice when he bought a ring for Jane, but instead Joey had gone by himself. Chandler would have known that there was a ring in the third drawer of his dresser hidden in the pocket of a pair of jeans. Instead no one knew. Equally, Joey really knew nothing of their lives anymore. He knew that Sarah was three and that they had had another daughter, Caroline, who was one. 

"Joe?" Jane walked into the apartment and found her boyfriend looking at a picture.

"Hey," he said softly. 

"What are you looking at?" She asked curiously. 

"An old picture," Joey said and he looked back down at the picture of him and Chandler and the chick and the duck. He was pretty sure that Monica had taken it the night Chandler had moved in with her. 

"Whose that?" Jane pointed with her index finger at Chandler. 

"That's my old best friend Chandler," Joey said and sighed. 

"You've never talked about him," Jane said and looked over her boyfriend and studied his face.

"I don't like to," he said and for a stricken moment Jane was sure that this Chandler had died. 

"Oh, Joey, did he die?" She asked.

"Oh, no!" Joey had to laugh at the look on her face. "We had a huge fight and he never forgave me. He even went as far as moving his wife away from me...well, us. Her brother and my other friends."

"Where do they live?" Now Jane was really curious. She wanted to find this Chandler. 

"San Diego," Joey said softly. So close, Jane thought. They live so close to us. 

"You said he was married?" 

"Yeah, his wife's name was Monica," Joey pulled out another picture from the box on the table and set it down. Chandler had his arms around Monica and they were laughing and smiling at the camera. Jane studied the brunette like she had Chandler.

"What was his name?" She asked hoping that Joey would tell her everything. She would find him and make him forgive Joey. Surely after so long he couldn't still be angry for whatever sin Joey had committed. 

"Chandler and Monica Bing." Joey picked up both pictures and threw them in the box and then shut the lid and got up from the table and walked to the hall closet and set the box on the top shelf. "Well, that's all I can take from memory lane for today. I have to go. I have an audition," he gave Jane a kiss and she smiled at him and wished him good luck. As soon as the door was shut she flew to the closet and pulled the box from the top shelf and went back into the living room. She sifted through the items in the box. She finally found an envelope that had Joey's name and address written on it in neat lettering. She glanced up at the corner at the return address. 

"Monica Bing," she read and copied down the address and decided that she would go to San Diego that weekend and find this Monica Bing and straighten this out. She had no idea that several people had tried and failed. She had figured all she had to do was tell this Chandler that Joey was sorry. If only it was that simple. 

Monica got out of the driver's side of her SUV and got her younger daughter out and then Sarah and they made their way inside the house. 

"Mommy?" Sarah asked as she walked and looked at the pictures in the coloring book Monica had just bought her. 

"Hmm?" Monica walked into the living room and set Caroline down in the playpen and walked back into the kitchen. 

"When did you say Daddy was home?" 

"In an hour."

"How long is that?"

"One Sesame Street or two Rugrats," Monica replied and she pulled the necessary items out for dinner. 

"That's too long," Sarah whined. Monica laughed. She kissed her daughter's dark head and set her on the counter.

"I know, I missed him too," Monica told her. Chandler had gone on a business trip and had been gone for a week. Monica was going crazy. Not that she didn't love her daughters more than life itself and loved being with them, she just really needed adult company. An hour later, she heard the front door open.

"Hello beautiful family!" Chandler called out and Sarah went running into the front hallway and straight into his arms. In another minute, Monica came into the hallway and Chandler set Sarah on the ground as he gathered his wife into his arms and kissed her passionately. 

"Missed you," he said and kissed her again.

"Oh, me too," she said out of breath from the amazing and long awaited kiss. 

"Where's Caroline?" 

"Taking a nap," Monica answered picking up Sarah and carrying her into the living room where Caroline was asleep on a blanket in the middle of the room. Chandler gently picked up his sleeping daughter and hugged her close. He gave her a kiss on the top of the head. 

"Listen," Chandler said to Monica. "Tomorrow I'm going to take the girls to the zoo and you can have a day to yourself." He always knew what she needed. 

"Do I look that frazzled?" She asked laughing.

"I know you pretty well by now," he explained laughing along with her. 

"Thanks," she gave him another kiss. "I better go check on dinner." 

The next day Monica rolled out of bed and found Chandler up and gone with the girls. She smiled slightly to herself and got into the shower and for the first time in awhile took as long as she wanted. She got out and dried her hair and leisurely made her way down to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee and pulled out a bagel to make. The doorbell rang and she went to answer wondering who it was. Her friends there had known that she was looking forward to the day by herself. She pulled open the door to reveal a woman, slightly younger than herself with blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail and green eyes searching her over with a satisfied grin. 

"You're Monica Bing?" She asked. Monica raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"And you are?"

"Jane, Jane Lewis. I have to talk to you," she smiled at Monica. 

"Okay, am I supposed to know who you are?" Monica was thoroughly confused and her expression clearly showed it.

"I'm dating one of your old friends, Joey Tribbianni?" Monica's face showed that she recognized the name and she ushered the woman into her house.

"How is Joey?" She asked.

"He's doing okay," Jane replied. "The reason I'm here is to smooth things over with him and your husband." Monica began laughing. She was laughing so hard there were tears falling down her cheeks. 

"What's so funny?" Jane demanded.

"If only it was that easy," Monica said and she calmed herself down. "I've tried to get my husband to see how ridiculous he was being for four years."

"What exactly happened?" Jane asked wishing that she would have learned all the facts before she wasted her money getting down here. Monica told her the story and then smiled at her.

"Thanks for coming down here," Monica said. "But I've tried everything. So if you can think of something new. I'm all ears."

"I was thinking that maybe if we just locked them in a room together, they could sort it all out," Jane suggested and Monica began to laugh again before she stopped.

"Novel idea, but very hard to get either of them to come to the other," Monica said. 

"Do you miss Joey?" Jane asked. 

"Yeah, he was one of my best friends," Monica said. Jane nodded and then sighed.

"I was really hoping I could be the hero," she admitted to Monica.

"Doesn't everyone?" Monica asked laughing and she and Jane talked for a little while longer before Jane left to go get a hotel room and Monica waited for Chandler and the girls to get home. When she heard the door open, she found him and gave him a kiss. 

"How was your day alone?" He asked. 

"Interesting," Monica replied wondering if she should mention the appearance of Joey's girlfriend or not. 

"Why do you say that?" He asked and she told him about the visit and watched his face for a reaction. 

"She must love him." That was it. That was all he said leaving Monica wondering what that meant as Chandler started up the stairs. She watched with curiosity and decided to leave him alone for awhile before attempting to grill him about why he had said that. She got Sarah and Caroline fed dinner and ate something herself when Chandler ceased to appear for dinner. She put the girls in the living room and made her way up the stairs. She opened their closed door and found him on their bed holding a picture. The amazing thing was that he was crying. Tears were silently falling down his face. She had only seen him cry four times. When he proposed, when they had gotten married, and when Sarah and Caroline were born. She went over and sat down on the bed next to him and took his hand in hers and glanced down at the picture. It showed the entire gang at Central Perk. 

"Honey?" Monica asked and he sighed. 

"Oh, Mon," he said. "I've been so stupid. I was so scared. I was so scared when there was the possibility of losing you. I needed someone to blame, I needed someone to blame so very badly because it had scared me to death. The idea of losing you, not having you with me, there had to be blame somewhere and I found it in him. I don't know why it took me so long to see how stupid I was being. I guess I thought it was easier not forgiving him. And I would see him and I would just imagine how that felt. Losing you. I stayed mad at him because I didn't want to feel that way." He looked at her and his blue eyes filled up with tears again. "I miss him Mon." She held him in her arms and rocked him back and forth. How many times had he held her in his arms, and now it was her turn.

"Then forgive him and move on." 

"I don't know if I can move on," Chandler admitted. 

"So you forgive, but don't forget. And maybe we don't go back to the way we were right away. Maybe we don't go back ever, but we learn to depend on each other again. We learn to be friends again. I miss him." Chandler dropped the picture and wrapped both arms around her. She began to cry and then they both began to laugh. 

"I'm going to call Jane," Monica said. She patted his leg and got up and walked out of the room. 

"So what's the plan?" Jane asked again. 

"Get Joey down here, and bring him to the house, and I will take over from that point on," Monica explained for the fourth time as she called over to her neighbor's to ask if they could watch Caroline and Sarah the next day. 

"How do I get him here?" 

"That's your part of the plan," Monica announced showing Jane clearly she did not have time for this. Jane could tell that she owned her own business as she had the expressions of "you're wasting my time" down pat. Sarah came running through the kitchen and Jane heard Caroline begin to cry from her room upstairs where she had been taking a nap. 

"Chandler? Get Caroline," Monica yelled adding to the noise and confusion in the house. Jane sighed. Getting Joey there would not be the easiest task in the entire world. He could be just as stubborn as the rest of them. 

"Jane, listen to me. The fact that Chandler has given up his pride is a huge thing. Your assignment compared to that is a piece of cake. Got it?" Monica grabbed her running daughter and took her to her room to get ready for bed. Jane picked up the phone and dialed her boyfriend's already formulation a lie to get him to come there. 

"Joe? My sister would love to meet you, so can you come to San Diego for a few days?" She lied. She was getting good at lying. Joey agreed and Jane breathed a sigh of relief. Her part was almost done.

Joey pulled up in front of the house in the suburbs that Jane had told him and paid the cab driver and got out. He made his way to the front door and saw in the next yard two little girls playing. They had dark hair and looked familiar to him. In fact, they looked incredibly familiar to him, but he didn't have time to think of that as he was nervous about meeting Jane's sister. The door swung open and instead of Jane or her mystery sister, Monica stood before him. That's why the little girls looked so familiar. They looked like Monica. 

"Hi Joey," she said and pulled him into a tight hug. He was surprised to say the least and managed a smile back at her. He looked up and saw Chandler in the hallway looking nervous. But one thing that Joey noted was he didn't look angry.

"Joey?" He said. "I just wanted to say...I just wanted...I wanted to tell you....I'm sorry, Joe. I've been stupid." Joey thought that he was dreaming and the tears coming down Monica's cheeks told him that in fact, he was not dreaming, Chandler had said this. He wanted to forgive him, more than that, he was telling him he was sorry. Joey hugged Monica again and slowly approached Chandler and hugged him tightly. And, oh, that was a hug to see. A friend who forgives you and forgive him back. 

"How? Why? What took you so long man?" Joey had a million questions running through his head. 

"I was stupid."

"I know," Monica said joining the hugging and crying fest. 

"Hey," Chandler picked her up and spun her around. Not only would they get their friend back, but Chandler would become his old happy-go-lucky self. He had taken on the task of protecting Monica and staying angry at Joey for so long that he had lost his happy spirit. Now she could see it in his eyes again. Things would get better. She just knew it. 

~*Hello all! Please review! I think there will be one more chapter and the more reviews I get the sooner I get the fourth part up*~


	4. It's okay to move on

~*Thanks for reviewing, and please tell me what you thought about this one! This will be the last chapter I've decided. ~*

Disclaimer: Oh, wait, so they don't belong to me? Never knew. 

"Mommy!" Five year old Sarah tugged on Monica's sleeve. Monica turned around from her position at the counter to face her daughter. 

"What's the matter Sarah?" She asked. 

"Caroline and Daddy are back from the airport with Uncle Joey," Sarah reported and ran to the door where Chandler was carrying a large suitcase in one hand and a even bigger suitcase in the other hand. Joey came in next with two smaller bags and Caroline came in dragging a bag on the ground. Monica wiped her hands on her apron that she had been wearing as her and Sarah made cookies and ran to her friend and threw her arms around his neck.

"Hi Mon!" Joey picked her up and spun her around and then set her back down gently. "I should be careful of the baby. Chandler told me, congratulations!" He put his hand on Monica's slightly bigger stomach. 

"Thanks Joe," she said smiling. "Speaking of, where's Jane and the baby?" 

"Coming right now," Jane announced holding the baby in her arms. 

"Oh, let me hold him," Monica said holding out her arms to take little Jacob in her arms. 

"How come you get a boy the first time and I've had two and one on the way and I get all girls?" Chandler whined. 

"Does Daddy wish we were boys?" Sarah asked and Chandler forgot that his daughter picked up on everything. 

"Of course not," Chandler answered quickly scooping her up in his arms and carrying her into the kitchen where everyone soon followed. Chandler set her on the chair and Caroline struggled to climb onto another one next to her sister and Monica came in holding seven-month-old Jacob and sat down on the chair next to her daughters. 

"So do you know if it's a boy or a girl yet?" Jane asked. 

"Girl," Monica said laughing. "Poor Chandler is never going to get his boy." 

"I somehow figured I'd end up with all girls," Chandler said glumly. 

"Just wait until they're old enough to date," Joey pointed out. 

"I hope you and Jane have a girl next time," Chandler shot back. Then they laughed. It was so nice. To see the two of them laughing together. Monica remembered three years before when they never uttered three words consecutively. She kissed the top of Jacob's head and reluctantly handed him over to Jane. The doorbell rang and Sarah raced to get it and following, though her much smaller legs made it hard to catch up, was Caroline. Sarah pulled it open with a shout of glee as her Uncle Ross, her Aunt Rachel and their daughter, Laura, came into the house followed by her older brother Ben. Laura was Caroline's age, so it was perfect for them, because they had an automatic friend. The adults exchanged hellos and hugs and moved into the living room where they waited for the arrival of Phoebe and her husband David, who had yet to have any children. Caroline grabbed a toy off of Laura and told her that she wasn't allowed to have it and Laura pushed her down and both began wailing and ran to their respective mothers. In a minute though, Caroline had grabbed Laura's hand and they were off and playing. 

"Isn't it funny how easily they forgive each other?" Monica pointed out, regretting it as soon as she had said it. 

"Yeah," Joey said quietly. Chandler and Joey glanced at each other, each remembering that feeling of not having your friend forgive you or being the one who wasn't doing the forgiving. They had lost so many years, years that would never be replaced. They had grown up and had kids and met soul mates without each other. The most frightening thing about it was it made them realize that maybe, they didn't need each other. Their group had been so codependent on everyone else that Chandler and Monica had feared that maybe they couldn't last without the support and friendship of the other four. The most startling realization was that yes, they could make it without the others, and most important, they could prosper without the other four. Ross and Rachel finally could get things together and get together. Phoebe found it much easier to succumb to David and move to wherever he wanted her to. Joey found he could move to the west coast and find a steady girlfriend and settle down and get married. In a way, the fight had been a blessing. It had forced them to get out of their codependent group and grow up and expand and move on with their lives. As sad as that was, that had been what they had needed to do. 

Chandler wrapped his arm around his wife who smiled at him. A sad smile, a smile that told him that she was thinking exactly what he was thinking. They had been inseparable, the six of them, and the fight had broken that up, but in some way it had been good....she didn't know how to explain it. Explain the feeling that she felt she should feel guilty for thinking it had been a good thing. People had gotten hurt, feelings had gotten hurt, she herself had cried many times over it, but....so many good things had happened while they were apart.

"Monica?" Chandler asked her and she turned to face him and looked at him taking all that she was thinking and feeling in. 

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

"I'm just happy to have everyone here," she told him. It was a half lie. She was happy to see everyone. In fact, she was absolutely thrilled. 

"That's only a half truth," he whispered. "You're thinking about something else." He knew her too well.

"I was just...I'll talk about it to you later," she kissed him on the cheek and he put his hand in hers and waited to hear the doorbell to have the six of them together again. 

"So what was bothering you tonight?" He asked her as they were getting into bed. She sighed and spilled it. The feelings that she couldn't quite place and the feeling that she should feel guilty. He listened and then enveloped her in a hug and held her tightly to him. 

"Listen to me," he said. "You didn't do anything, you know that? You didn't do anything because you didn't start the fight. And you're right. It forced us to move on with our lives. That's what it did. And so you have every right to feel the way that you do about what happened." She nodded, though still completely uncertain about what he was saying. He lifted her chin and smiled at her. 

"Tired?" He asked. 

"Extremely," she answered and slipped under the covers and felt his arms encircle her. 

"Do you realize," he whispered in the dark. "We are all under the same roof? Crowded, sure, but under the same roof." Monica smiled and thought about it. They had done some squishing, but everyone had fit in the house with minimal problems. 

"It's nice, isn't it?" Monica said and sighed a content sigh. "I missed them." But, she added silently to herself, it's all over now. We're all together again. 

"So did I." He kissed the back of her head and clung to her. It was one of those nights where he needed to feel her next to him, and hear her breath in and out in the soothing placid way that she did. 

"Goodnight," she mumbled almost asleep.

"Goodnight, babe," he murmured into her ear. 

"I missed this!" Joey announced as he dug into the stack of pancakes that Monica had put in front of him.

"I'm glad that you like them," Monica said laughing. 

"You are a cooking god," he told her and she giggled again.

"Why thanks, Joe. Listen to the compliments Chandler. You could learn something."

"Oh good job, Joey, like I don't have enough to think about when I open my mouth," Chandler teased and they all laughed.

"Chandler, don't tell me you finally mastered the art about thinking before you talk!" Ross said sitting next to him at the kitchen table and took a sip of his coffee. 

"I'm not quite there, but I am surely working on it," Chandler replied and the rest of the adults laughed. Rachel came stumbling in, never really a morning person.

"Nice sleep Rach?" Monica asked holding in her laughter at the sight of Rachel's hair in five different places. 

"Oh, yeah," she said. "Just lovely." Rachel and Ross had taken Sarah's room and Monica had moved Sarah in with Caroline and Laura. She stopped and placed her hand on her stomach and made a face.

"What's the matter?" Chandler practically hurtled over to her. "Is it the baby?"

"She just kicked!" Monica said and grabbed his hand and set it on her protruding stomach. 

"Did you pick out names yet?" Ross asked taking a bite of the pancakes.

"Not yet," Chandler said not wanting to sit back down yet. 

"Well you have, what? Four more months?"

"Four and a half," Monica said flipping another pancake and setting it down on the plate. She finally sat down at a chair and pulled the plate of pancakes towards her and smothered them in syrup. She looked around at her friends and smiled at her husband. It was nice to have everyone there, but somehow she knew that it couldn't last. There was no way that everyone could stay here and be happy and all lovey-dovey. It was great for a week, but then came the realization that in a week it would end and they would go back to being on opposite sides of the country. They would look out onto two different oceans and be in two different time zones. Things would have changed for the better, because they were all talking again, but in reality everyday life would not change so much. 

"So what do our lovely hosts have planned for us today?" Ross asked.

"Shopping?" Rachel asked hopefully. Monica and Phoebe laughed. 

"You never change," Monica said and Rachel laughed as well. "Sure, we can go shopping. Jane would you like to come?"

"Oh, I'd love that thanks," Jane said. 

"We can golf," Chandler suggested. 

"You golf? Chandler Bing golfs?" Joey exclaimed and the rest of them laughed. 

"It's quite relaxing," Chandler said indignantly. 

"Do you wear the little pants and the hat too?" Ross teased.

"Oh Ross, like you have room to talk," Rachel said. "You play racquetball every Monday and Wednesday night." 

"We've become old men," Chandler said laughing. 

"Speak for yourself," Joey told him. "I am not old and I don't play golf or racquetball."

"So how was golf?" Jane asked her husband as he came in that night.

"Oh so much fun! Can we get a membership at a club when we get home?" He raved.

"We'll see." She laughed. 

"Told you you'd like it," Chandler said and he took a seat next to his wife who gave him a kiss. "Are you just trying to soften me up before I look at that shopping bill that you made?"

"No, why in the world would you say that?" She asked pretending to be shocked. 

"Give it to me," he turned his head and squeezed his eyes shut and opened them when she handed him the credit card bill. 

"Well, it looks like Sarah won't be going to college," he teased and she hit him on the arm. The kids were in bed, the adults were enjoying wine and grape juice in the Bings' living room. The theme of the conversation was how much they had missed each other and reminiscing on old times. 

"Remember the game to win the apartment back?" Monica asked Phoebe and Rachel.

"I remember," Joey said laughing. "Name a quality about a tree. The answer I was looking for was leafy, leafy." Phoebe turned red and laughed. 

"It was the best answer next to green," she said defending her game. They all laughed hysterically and patted her arm.

"It was a good game," Chandler said. They all laughed again and the sound of the laughter filled the room and made them all feel safe and warm. It had been the thing missing from their lives for so long. 

"So I was thinking," Rachel said. "You know, about names. I was thinking I like Rene." 

"Rene?" Monica said and threw it around in her head and smiled. "Maybe."

"What about Josephine?" Joey suggested.

"How about no," Chandler remarked. 

"Susan?" Jane asked and the other six laughed. 

"I think that is a safe no," Ross said. 

"And no Emily," Rachel added. "I may not be able to forgive you, Mon." That was a sobering thought and the laughter stopped for a minute before Phoebe interrupted.

"Rainy?" 

"No!" They all said and the laughter once again started as they thought of names for the third daughter in the Bing family. Outside the rain started and Joey smiled at his best friend who smiled back at him. 

"How about Phoenix?" Phoebe suggested. The pure look of horror on Monica's face was priceless and Chandler wished that he had a video camera.

"Let's get a picture of the six of you," Jane suggested and arranged the six friends on the couch.

"It's not an orange couch, but it will do," Joey said. And they wrapped their arms around each other and grinned for the camera.

~*I hoped that you liked it! It took me so long to get the last part up because I had major writer's block. Anyway, please review!*~


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